The Lion in Winter (1968)

  'The Lion in Winter' is a 1968 British film directed by Anthony Harvey, based on the play by James Goldman.

  In 12th Century England, King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) is deciding on Christmas in the year 1183 who will inherit the throne. His three sons Richard (Anthony Hopkins), John (Nigel Terry) and Geoffrey (John Castle), all want the throne, and plot against each other to get it. Meanwhile, the King's wife Queen Eleanor (Katherine Hepburn) returns to the castle and then the plotting begins. The Queen wants Richard to have the throne, as she has raised him, the king wants John to have the throne as he raised him, and Geoffrey is just scheming like crazy. King Phillip II of France is also at the castle, with his sister and join in, to try and get some land. 

  'The Lion in Winter' picked up three Academy Awards in 1968, and has been a film I have been putting off for a long time. I was expecting a massive period war film, like 'Ran' but set in England. Turns out, it's a period character study with a family which really (and I mean really) hate each other.

  It's a hard film to find a character to like. Peter O'Toole is very skilled, playing the king with passion and is very realistic (I imagine Henry II was very similar). Katherine Hepburn gives her finest performance as his angry wife. She won an Oscar for it, and rightly so. Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton also give worthy début performances. This film is an acting powerhouse, with not a single 'good' protagonist to root for. All character's are backstabbing detestable and evil, similar to a film where all the main characters are played by Joffrey from 'Game Of Thrones'.

  The acting outshines the British location, average camerawork, and confusing script, but this contributes to the main problem. It feels incredibly stagy. Like 'August: Osage Country', it's adapted from a play, and the film does little to add to it. Except from the first ten minutes including a lousy horse-based battle scene, all scenes take place in small rooms. The film adds incredibly little, to a great play. The performances are staggering, but that's about it.

TO CONCLUDE
This had the potential to be brilliant, due to the stellar cast, but shrugs it off with a mediocre production. The acting was really superb and intense.

SCORE
74